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EU Parliament's Irish interpreter jobs not being filled

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harbasz
harbasz
Luxembourg
Local time: 15:22
English to Polish
+ ...
selection procedure Mar 24, 2017

Gallagy wrote:
I just found it ridiculous that there were no translation tests


Had you successfully passed those computer-based tests, you would have been invited to sit actual translation tests (from two EU languages into your mother tongue) and then asked to jump through some more hoops during the Assessment Centre phase. Not an easy task, I admit.

Greg

[Zmieniono 2017-03-24 22:56 GMT]


 
FarkasAndras
FarkasAndras  Identity Verified
Local time: 15:22
English to Hungarian
+ ...
Let's look at the facts Mar 25, 2017

Gallagy wrote:
So, I went to do the test but there was no translation test! Rather comprehension tests (read and tick multiple choice) and a mathematics test!

But, although I managed to pass all the tests, I didn't rank high enough to be offered a post!


So, I suspect it isn't a question of how many people apply, but rather how many manage to pass those tests. Frankly, I just found it ridiculous that there were no translation tests. So, never again for me...


1) Perhaps you should have looked into the process a little more thoroughly in advance. It's no secret that the process starts with general tests. Translation tests follow for those that clear the first hurdle. Indeed stringent math tests don't make much sense for translators, but this is a large bureaucracy... they have the same first-round tests with slight variations for everyone including clerical staff and policy expert positions.

2) You said it yourself: you reached the "pass" score. Had there been fewer applicants, you would have progressed to the next round.


 
FarkasAndras
FarkasAndras  Identity Verified
Local time: 15:22
English to Hungarian
+ ...
on request Mar 25, 2017

Gallagy wrote:

Robert
Robert Forstag wrote:

I realize that this may soon be a moot point, but I have to ask if it is the case for right now that, when the speaker at an EU function is using English, interpretation is required into Irish Gaelic for attendees representing Ireland?


The simple answer is "yes" but upon advance request. Some insist on it, even though they understand English (various factors involved which would take too long to explain)
see here: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/gaeilge-to-become-a-full-working-language-of-the-european-union-386308.html

"Interpretation of the spoken word has been available but only on request with advance notice. Last year Irish ministers did not speak any Irish at their meetings in Brussels. But Ms Ní Riada, a native Irish speaker from West Cork, went on a language strike in the parliament, speaking nothing but Irish for a number of weeks despite the lack of official interpretation. Her assistant filled in translating into English for her for a time..."


The same applies to all the other official languages at EU meetings. Interpretation is available on advance request. There would be no point in stationing interpreters at a meeting at huge cost if there is no interest in their services. With health contributions etc., that's a cost of about €1500 for a 3-person team per day, plus travel and accomodation costs if any.
There is some complication wrt funding. In some cases the member state has to pay for interpretation into their language at a given meeting and they are unwilling to do so, so the participant has to do without... but that's hardly the fault of the interpretation services. By and large they meet all requests for interpretation as far as I know.


 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 14:22
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Well... Mar 25, 2017

Mervyn Henderson wrote:

Dunno what happened there, must have hit the wrong button a couple of times or something ..

Anyway, as neilmac pointed out, there are hoops various. Maybe Teresa Borges (I think it's Teresa who used to work in EU circles) will correct my cynicism, but I applied a couple of times in the 90s and it was a lot of waiting, documentation, box-ticking, more waiting, then more waiting and eventually a trip to Brussels for the tests. I went on two occasions, to Brussels for interpreting, and Dublin for translating. Over a Guinness or two after the Dublin gig, one of the other applicants, who'd worked in Brussels before, said this was just going through the motions, and that the jobs were already assigned. He was frank enough to tell me that he had a much better chance than I did, simply because he was ex-staff. I asked why he left in the first place, and he said it was boredom doing next to nothing all the time, and that it was only fun earning huge amounts of money for doing nothing all day long if everyone around you wasn't, but they were, earning more and doing less than nothing. Then after a year or two (because they continue to pay you €€€€ for a year or so) his money ran out.

Plus, also as already stated, not all translators can or want to be interpreters.


I’ve just found this post where my name is mentioned. I don’t know exactly what you mean by “used to work in EU circles”, but I was an EU officer (translator) for 20 years. I’ve never been an interpreter and I’m unfamiliar with SCIC, though I suppose the selection process of an interpreter is as hard as any other staff member. I can confirm that there are a lot of hurdles to overcome. In my case, first of all I had to fill all the paperwork needed for the translators’ competition. Several months later, I was called to do several psychometric tests, a comprehension test, a numerical reasoning test and a general knowledge test about the European Community (as it was called by then). These tests were eliminatory. Then I had the translation tests (English, French and Spanish into Portuguese) without dictionaries (nowadays it’s allowed). Several months after that, I had my oral test: the jury (several nationalities) asked a few questions about my professional experience in English, French and Spanish and then I had to choose one topic from a list to make an oral presentation. Almost one year after that I received a letter saying that I had passed the competition and that my name was placed on a reserve list (5th place among 20 approved candidates). I was called 3 years later…


 
Robert Forstag
Robert Forstag  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 10:22
Spanish to English
+ ...
@Gallagy Mar 30, 2017

Gallagy wrote:

Robert
Robert Forstag wrote:

I realize that this may soon be a moot point, but I have to ask if it is the case for right now that, when the speaker at an EU function is using English, interpretation is required into Irish Gaelic for attendees representing Ireland?


The simple answer is "yes" but upon advance request. Some insist on it, even though they understand English (various factors involved which would take too long to explain)
see here: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/gaeilge-to-become-a-full-working-language-of-the-european-union-386308.html

"Interpretation of the spoken word has been available but only on request with advance notice. Last year Irish ministers did not speak any Irish at their meetings in Brussels. But Ms Ní Riada, a native Irish speaker from West Cork, went on a language strike in the parliament, speaking nothing but Irish for a number of weeks despite the lack of official interpretation. Her assistant filled in translating into English for her for a time..."



Thank you for your detailed response, which I've just seen.

As a complete outsider to all of this, it strikes me that there must be more productive and less expensive ways to promote use of and respect for the Irish language. What you write also implies that Irish representatives have the right to demand interpretation into Irish from the languages of any EU member country that might be used at an EU event. I imagine that such services would in many instances be difficult to secure, since the numbers of qualified interpreters in, say, the combinations Irish-Estonian and Irish-Latvian must be very limited indeed....


Yvonne Gallagher
 
FarkasAndras
FarkasAndras  Identity Verified
Local time: 15:22
English to Hungarian
+ ...
Relay Mar 30, 2017

Robert Forstag wrote:

Thank you for your detailed response, which I've just seen.

As a complete outsider to all of this, it strikes me that there must be more productive and less expensive ways to promote use of and respect for the Irish language. What you write also implies that Irish representatives have the right to demand interpretation into Irish from the languages of any EU member country that might be used at an EU event. I imagine that such services would in many instances be difficult to secure, since the numbers of qualified interpreters in, say, the combinations Irish-Estonian and Irish-Latvian must be very limited indeed....


Obviously, interpretation is not provided directly from every language to every other. 24*23=552 language combinations in a full language regime. That would take over 100 interpreters to cover even if interpreters had more than 5 passive languages each on average (due to overlaps, it would probably be well over 200 in practice). (There are very few meetings with a full language regime but there are many with a dozen languages, which would also be extremely difficult and expensive to cover in this way.)
They use relay. Say, the delegate speaks in Latvian. An English (or Latvian) interpreter interprets into English, then an Irish interpreter listens to that and interprets it into Irish. AFAIK double relay is not allowed in the EU institutions. (Say, Latvian->French->English->Irish). They arrange the interpreter teams so that a single relay covers every language combination.

As to how reasonable it is to demand Irish interpretation... It's a matter of opinion. It is expensive, but not that expensive in the grand scheme of things. Europe decided to be multicultural and multilingual, and that has its costs. If the EU was less supportive of national preferences and sensitivities, the whole thing might not work.

[Edited at 2017-03-30 15:16 GMT]


 
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EU Parliament's Irish interpreter jobs not being filled







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